Help Me
by ForbiddenDreams13
Summary: I can't take this anymore. Someone please... Help me.


**Hello, hello! Welcome back to another one-shot! Sorry I've been so sporadic with my updates. Life, man. It just keeps happening.**

**At any rate, please enjoy this latest tale of terror!**

* * *

I still remember when I first saw her. It was a Monday morning. Cold ribbons of rain splattered my umbrella as I stood at the intersection, waiting for the light to change and the walk sign to flash. I stretched my neck, rubbing it with my free hand, when I looked across the street. She stood opposite me. Her skin pale, her hair a deep chestnut and soaking wet, her eyes wide, her face terrified. That was what brought me up short. The sheer amount of terror and desperation on this young woman's face. It was as if she had come face to face with death himself and was still trying to outrun him. Strangely, no one seemed to notice her. No motorists slowed down, no passersby stopped. Not even the people standing next to her took notice. Yet, there she was, plain as day. Then again, most people don't notice anything outside themselves. Too wrapped up in their own lives to notice anything beyond their morning coffee. I stared back at the girl. As I did, I noticed her mouth moving. She seemed to be repeating a single phrase over and over again. It took me a moment to realize she was saying 'help me.'

I looked at the people around me. No one else seemed to see the strange girl too. When I looked back, she was gone. The light had changed, and bright green letters told me I could cross the street. I stood at the crosswalk, staring at where she had been but a moment ago. Had she been a hallucination? I had stayed up pretty late the night before. Shrugging, I crossed the street and continued on my way.

* * *

The next time I saw her was at school. I was walking back to class after using the bathroom when I noticed her at the end of the hall, peeking around a corner. Just like before, she wore that same terrified expression. I stopped dead in my tracks. We stared at each other. The bright fluorescent lights illuminated the hallway, accenting the paleness of the girl's skin. It wasn't the smooth, beautiful pale of a porcelain doll, but rather the wan shade of a corpse. Again, she mouthed the words 'help me.' I felt a little frightened at this point. Who was this girl? Was she stalking me? And what did she mean, 'help me?' Help her how? Before I could accost her, the dismissal bell rang, making me jump out of my skin. Doors opened and students poured into the halls, eager to go to lunch. I pushed my way through the crowds, but when I got to the end of the hall, she was gone.

* * *

A week passed before I saw her again. This time I was with Yusuke and Kuwabara. We were walking up to his apartment, and had just passed the third floor landing when I saw her. This time she stood closer, only a few feet from the opening of the stairwell. Again, she said those same words, but this time I could hear her voice. It was soft, her fear giving it a sharp edge, like cotton wrapped in razor wire. I could now see the color of her eyes, such a bright, electric blue. I could also make out small details like the torn hem of her shirt, the light bruise on her cheek, and the way she trembled, so minute you'd forgive yourself for thinking it was a trick of the eye. Just like before, she stared right at me, as if the two boys I was with didn't exist.

"Help me." She murmured, "Help me. Help me. Help me…"

I was about to ask her what she needed and why she had been following me, as well as how she'd been able to do so, when Yusuke's hand on my shoulder forced me to turn around.

"Hey, what are you staring at?"

I blinked. "That girl!" I exclaimed, pointing to the pleading waif. Yusuke frowned and looked past me. Kuwabara did the same.

"Uh, Kurama… There's no one there."

I looked back, half-expecting to find her gone again, but she wasn't. If anything, she had gotten closer, one hand raised, poised to stretch outward and grab a hold of me if need be. How could they not see her? I could understand crowds not seeing her, but two people who were right in front of her? I opened my mouth to protest, but Yusuke and Kuwabara herded me up the stairs, telling me I needed to get some sleep. I felt her gaze upon me as I followed my friends, her pleas repeated until I was out of earshot.

* * *

I saw her off and on again over the next few days. First, standing with the crowd boarding for the next car over when I took a train to go see Genkai. Then, peering in through the classroom door. Once, I caught her standing two tables down from me in a café where I met up with Botan. Each time I noticed her appearance. How it kept changing. Stains appeared on her clothes, greasy, pale, patchy stains. The bruise on her cheek darkened and was joined by other, smaller marks flowering upon her skin. Speaking of skin, it had paled even more. It was almost translucent, and whenever she stood beneath artificial light, I could see every vein in her body. No one else saw her. Neither my friends, nor my classmates, nor even random people I happened to pass on the street. She couldn't be a hallucination, I told myself. Once maybe, but so many times? There's no way. She had to be a spirit of some kind. Had to be. What with the way she kept begging for help.

The most frightening encounter was when she first appeared in my bedroom. My parents were out of town, and my step-brother was at a friend's house. I was up late doing homework, when from behind me I heard that faint, familiar voice.

"Help me…"

I turned around and about fell out of my desk chair. She stood right behind me. Her appearance had altered even more. Those bright blue eyes sported a thin, sticky-looking glaze, her hair was a bedraggled mess that would have made the nastiest rat's nest jealous. Her skin had begun to crack open in places, giving me a quick peek at the quivering, gray flesh that lay beneath.

"Help me." She said, "Help me, help me, help me help-"

That repeated plea broke me from my stupor. "What do you want?!" I shouted, "Tell me!"

The girl fell silent. We stared at each other. Her blind gaze pierced me to my core. I could see my face reflected in those eyes. My expression almost mirrored her own. Taking a few deep breaths to calm down, I reached my hand out to the girl.

"I can help you," I told her, "but you have to tell me how."

She looked down at my hand, then back at me. I waited for her response. I waited for the spirit to tell me how I could help her. But she didn't. She just kept repeating that damn phrase over and over again. Clapping my hands to my ears, I fled the house. I didn't stop running until I was halfway down the street. As I caught my breath in front of a neighbor's picket fence, I glanced behind me. Lo and behold, there she was, standing a few feet away.

And that's how it's been for the past few weeks. She never disappears anymore. I don't have any privacy. She follows me into the shower for God's sake! My friends don't see her. My family doesn't see her. No one sees her! I catch Botan and Yusuke sharing concerned glances. At night I hear my mother and step-father trying to decide whether they should take me to a doctor or a therapist. I'm not crazy, I know I'm not! She's real! She's real and she's scaring me.

At night she hovers over my bed, whispering into my ear. The stench of her rotten breath is enough to make me gag. I haven't gotten any sleep for the past three nights because of this. Countless times I've asked her what she wants, and she won't tell me! Just 'help me' over and over again, like I'm just supposed to know! I've talked to Genkai, but she thinks I'm suffering from some schizophrenic delusion brought about by my dual nature. That maybe if I do some spiritual techniques, she'll go away. Why doesn't anyone believe me?!

I can't take this anymore. There's an herb in the garden. If I take that, it can end. My death will be quick and painless.

But I don't know! Will it end? Or will she follow me even in death? Will I even be allowed to pass on? I just don't know! I'm so scared. I'm so tired.

Someone, please…

Help me.

* * *

**Whoo! Done and done! And right before class! I like this one. At any rate, be sure to drop me a review, let me know what you think!**


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